ee 
HYPHANTORNIS VELATUS. AA] 
can only be reached by swimming; for the river, though narrow, 
is very deep, and the reeds either shoot up from the bottom, or 
form a sort of overhanging bank not easy of approach. On the 
20th October I again visited the spot, but of the nests which I then 
examined I only found one containmg eggs; I saw several cock 
birds in full plumage, and it is noticeable that the cock birds are 
more often to be seen at the nests than the hens. On the Ist 
November I obtained three nests, with eggs, from the same locality, 
but could not get the birds belonging to them; and though, as 
far as I could judge, the males were in full plumage, I was never 
certain which birds belonged to the nests which I took. I think, 
however, that Mr. Layard’s correspondents are right considering 
‘that many of these birds do not assume the yellow plumage in 
summer, and that they breed, or at all events commence building, 
before assuming the breeding dress.’” 
Mr. T. E. Buckley procured the species on the Limpopo River, 
and Dr. Exton found it breeding at Kanye in the Matabele country, 
where, he says, that the birds use grass for their nests as they cannot 
get the Sanseviera. The late Mr. Oates procured it on the Seruli 
River in October, 1873, and Mr. Jameson met with them not 
uncommonly about the Inshlangeen River in November, and in 
December he found them breeding at Palatswie Pan; while Mr. 
T. Ayres procured nests with eggs on the banks of the Makara, 
a tributary of the Moloppo River, where their neatly constructed 
nests were hanging on the bushes fringing the stream. Mr. 
Andersson states that the species is common in Damara Land, and 
the parts adjacent. Senor Anchieta has recorded it from Humbe 
on the Cunene River, and from Quillengues in Benguela. It should 
be noted that the specimens from Damara Land are smaller and 
brighter than Transvaal skins, but we think they are only to be 
considered a brightly-coloured race. 
Male—Top of head, breast, and under parts bright-yellow, 
darkest on the head ; forehead, side of the head, beyond the eye, 
chin, and throat black, the colour ending in a wedge-shaped 
mark on the chest; back greenish; wings and tail brown, with a 
tint of yellow. The female is a dull-green, mottled, and wants 
the black of the face and throat. Length, 6”; wing, 8” 6’; tail, 
Q'/ 6". P 
Fig. Gurney, Ibis. 1868, pl. 10. 
